Insurgent (Divergent, #2)

by Veronica Roth

Fighting for survival in a shattered world… the truth is her only hope.

The thrillingly dark sequel to No. 1 New York Times bestseller, DIVERGENT.

I have done bad things. I can’t take them back, and they are part of who I am.

Tris has survived a brutal attack on her former home and family. But she has paid a terrible price. Wracked by grief and guilt, she becomes ever more reckless as she struggles to accept her new future.

Yet if Tris wants to uncover the truth about her world, she must be stronger than ever… because more shocking choices and sacrifices lie ahead.

• ISBN13: 9780007479900
• Publish Date: 1 May 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Harper Fire
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 576
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[celinenyx]

Just as awesome as the last book.

As you might remember, I was completely at loss for words after reading Divergent. That book was just perfect for me. I had high expectations of Insurgent, and fear that it would all blow up in my face. I'm glad it didn't.

Insurgent begins where Divergent ended. Here is one of the only annoyance I experienced when reading the book - I had no clue who all the characters were again. It's been months since I read book one, and I'm not that good with remembering names. There was no recapping at all. I know I will be very glad of this when I read them back to back, but since it had such a gap between reads I had troubles getting straight who was who.

But after that, oh boy. The world Tris knows is falling to pieces. Factions are split, broken up, fight from within. There are more and more Divergent showing up. And of course, in the final pages, the proverbial shit is hitting the fan.

In this book Tris and Four have some relationship troubles. They are completely logical and life-like, but I don't want my favourite book couple to have relationship troubles. I was a bit scared Ms Roth was going to break them up - but I'm glad she found a way to make them work things out in a believable way.

Maybe this series isn't the best series out there. Insurgent might not be the best book in the series. All I know is that I read the damn thing in two days, and that I absolutely cannot wait for the next one.

[Linda]

Full review can be found on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews

I loved this book, the way Four and Tris had to deal with the aftermath of the huge simulation war, and wondering what was going to happen next was exciting and kept me firmly attached to my kindle for the whole narrative.

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Insurgent is an exciting follow-up to Divergent, beginning right where the last book stopped and dropping readers right into the middle of the war with Erudite. The book has a lot of action, just on a much grander scale than Divergent as Tris and Four have left the Dauntless compound in order to explore the other faction headquarters and the rest of the city. The portrayal of the different factions is one of the novel’s strengths, as Roth gives each one unique customs and a distinct personality, ranging from the adamantly peaceful Amity to the straightforward Candor. In general, however, Roth makes sure to make clear that no faction and no individual is as one-dimensional as most of the citizens believe.

Tris and Four do get some very nice romantic moments in Insurgent, though unfortunately they spend a large portion of the book arguing. I read through a few hundred pages before I realized the book was actually putting me into a bad mood because everyone was yelling so much. Precisely why they are arguing is a little unclear. Maybe it is just stress from all the danger and battle preparations. Perhaps Roth thought she needed to “spice up” their relationship. Luckily, they get over their differences eventually, and Tris gets over all the issues that were holding her back for most of the book, and the ending gets much more exciting than the beginning.

Roth also continues to insert philosophical statements in surprising places. Tris comes to see that other people view the world in shades of grey, while she and Four tend to look at it as black and white. In the end, she stands up for absolute morality, arguing that no matter how she looks at it, controlling people’s minds has to be wrong. It’s hard to argue with that!

Insurgent is a very strong second book, and although the ending is expected rather than surprising, Roth has set up herself up well to deliver a thrilling finale where everything changes.

This review was also posted at Pages Unbound Book Reviews.

[notajammiedodger]

22 May 2012
This was just amazing! I literally just finished this, and I am like :O I am falling in love with Veronica Roth's work. I really hope the last book does not disappoint. I will try and write as much of a review as I can soon.

3 June 2012
I finally finished my review :D

First things first, if you have not read Divergent by Veronica Roth go and get yourself a copy right now! You will not regret it. This book was just absolutely amazing! Through the first part of the book I wasn't sure how I felt about it, I wasn't loving it as much as the first, not much as going on and I just wanted things to get exciting. But for me the ending of a book can really make it, and Insurgent most definitely lived up to be everything I wanted it to be.

Again this isn't going to be the greatest review, as I don't know what I can say to convince you of how amazing this book is, but I will try my hardest. Roth has just created a world and characters that I just absolutely love to read about. I feel the heart break that they feel, I feel betrayed when they are. Books with these kind of well written and developed characters are the kind that I love to read, probably the whole reason that I continue to read. To find that rare amazing gem like these.

Insurgent literally picks up where Divergent left off. If you have not read Divergent recently, or have a terrible memory like me, I would highly recommend reading it again before you read this one as it practically reads like one book. Or is you don't have time you can check out the recap post that Veronica Roth so kindly posted for us here. I quite enjoyed that this way in these books, it works really well for Tris's voice and flows nicely. That is another thing that I absolutely love. Tris's voice. I wouldn't really know how to explain why, I just love the way she speaks and thinks.

It was not as apparent in the first book, but I seriously love the questioning of humanity in this series. I love these kind of books that really make you question how society is and where we are going to end up, The Hunger Games was an amazing series for that. This was one of the many things that really made this book for me. Closer to the end of the book, I began to worry that it would become a series that would give you no answers until the very end, and that always bugs me. If you experience this as well, do not worry! You will get some answers, albeit these answers raise more questions, but I will still very satisfied that we did get some answers to the questions in this series.

The ending of this book was amazing, I am still mind blown, and confused, and excited all at the same time. I am very excited for the third and final book in this series. I am often disappointed with endings to series, I think I love just as many as I hate, I hate quite a few endings of series that I love. I am thoroughly convinced that Roth will give us an amazing ending, and I can't wait for it. I loved this book, so if are hesitant because you're unsure if you are going to like it or not, don't be! Go and get it now!

This review is also on my blog The Confessions of a Book Nerd :)

[mbtc]

So.... I really liked Divergent. I have no idea what I really think about Insurgent. I was talking with my hubby about the book and told him that it was crazy. Crazy how? he asked. Just crazy, I told him. Crazy like the second season of a HBO series? he asked. I couldn't have put it better myself. Insurgent is the equivalent of the second season of a HBO series. That's not a good thing in my opinion, but might be for others. I didn't love the book, but I didn't hate it either.

[clementine]

I liked Divergent a lot. The concept was very neat; I thought it was well-plotted; the characters were pretty cool, although certainly lacking some amount of depth. The writing itself wasn't stellar, but it was a highly enjoyable read made especially impressive by Roth's age.

Insurgent, on the other hand, I was quite disappointed with. I felt like it was rushed, which it probably was given that it was published quite soon after Divergent. This is understandable, since the market changes quickly and everyone just wants to make a quick buck and whatnot - but it was also pretty noticeable. The writing quality was pretty bad; it distracted me quite a bit from the actual text. I feel like a lot of readers wouldn't notice it because the plot was still exciting, but I am picky and I did notice. It's not that I was expecting the style to be mindblowingly beautiful, but somehow it irritated me quite a lot this time around, and that's the main thing that made me feel like it was rushed. It's of course reminiscent of The Hunger Games in terms of narration style in the sense that it's first person, present tense, and fast paced, but somehow the immediacy of it is lost here.

The plot felt like a natural continuation of Divergent, which is good. However, it definitely didn't feel as tight as Divergent. There seemed to be a lot of jumping around, and things just didn't come together as well as they did in Divergent. Overall I thought the plot was good, but it was definitely lacking something, and it was a bit of letdown after the very exciting and creative Divergent. I would still overall call it a pretty successful plot, though.

The characters irritated me a lot this time around. I just couldn't really get a feeling for who they really are. This could be a conscious choice on Roth's part, but it made it really hard to connect with the characters and actually care about what happened to them. I know Tris is suffering from PTSD or something similar, but I felt like she spent a lot of time whining and not being proactive. There's definitely a fine line there, but I've seen characters with something like PTSD written in a way that still keeps them sympathetic and interesting. As for Tobias... ugh. Ugh. Ugh. I'm generally wary of romance in these types of novels, because I feel like it's usually forced, and the male character almost always fits a really specific archetype that I despise, and the romance aspect of this series really went downhill with this book. Tobias just seemed so out of touch with Tris, and right when I thought she'd finally stood up to him and this WASN'T going to be a formulaic and-they-defeat-the-oppressive-powers-and-get-married-and-have-babies ending (which we still have yet to see, of course), she takes him back for no real reason after voicing VERY legitimate concerns that are never resolved.

I'd really like to see the divisions between the factions explored more. They seem very reductive, and while I know a lot of that is the author's intent (showing how we need to work together to succeed as a society rather than dividing up based on one trait; ignoring shared traits and goals in favour of differences), a lot of the characters within the different factions seemed to be merely undeveloped archetypes. I would love to see this expanded upon, because right now it's walking the line between "I see what you're doing and it's cool" and "I don't know if this is intentional". It has promise, though, and the loose ends make me think a lot of it will be revealed/built upon in the next book.

A lot of stuff did come together at the end, and it made me enjoy significantly more. There were quite a few things bugging me throughout the book, and a lot of these concerns were somewhat addressed by the end. I do think Veronica Roth left room for a very promising third book. I'm certainly not going to expect it to be as good as the first, nor will I expect much from the writing style, but I think the story will be good. I hate to make this comparison again (and I'm certainly not trying to suggest plagiarism or anything), but so far the series seems to follow a Hunger Games-style arc: a close, focused look at one aspect of society followed by a wider look at the society and the beginnings of a revolution followed by (most likely) the revolution succeeding. It will be interesting to see more of the society, as well as what's outside and why exactly they were put inside.

Seriously, I still like this series, despite this rather long and negative review. Insurgent was disappointing to me, but not unsalvageable by any means.

[Kelsenator]

My full review is on the blog here

This is going to be a hard one to review. Mainly because it was freaking awesome but I don’t want to give away any of the story, there’s just so much that happens and I don’t want to give it away. Or spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read Divergent yet. One thing I will say is, the ending, OMG I want to read the next book right now!

Picking up where the second book left off, Tris is feeling the guilt of what happened, and what she did to survive. She feels like her life isn’t worth anything, and keeps doing dangerous things to help others, without caring what happens to her. Of course Four still cares for her, and tries to make her see that her life has meaning.

I liked how Tris changed during the book, appearing strong, but really trying not to break inside. I would consider her strong, in the sense that even though she may be afraid, she still goes forward and does what she has to. Four kept changing in this book too, and i liked that we got to see his more in-depth personalities. One moment you see the caring side of him, but the next he could change to be secretive, hard and cold. He has his reasons though, and I was glad how he acted at the very end. There were lots of other characters, some dying, some getting hurt, other betraying people. And of course ones being used by the simulations.

Although the book was long, it just flew right by, with all the action involved, the many shifts of scene and their travelling, and the characters just being so awesome.

This is definitely a great Dystopian book, and I recommend this series to fans of that genre, especially if you want to try another amazing series!

[ladygrey]

I like [b:Insurgent|11735983|Insurgent (Divergent, #2)|Veronica Roth|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1325667729s/11735983.jpg|15524542] and I like [a:Veronica Roth|4039811|Veronica Roth|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1363910238p2/4039811.jpg]. I like the world she's built because it's different and the isolation of factions allows Roth to be overt in talking about human dynamics without being obnoxious which I enjoy. I'm not a fan of her writing style. I'm burying it in this paragraph because I feel bad about it, but her writing is the simplest and the most rudimentary of almost all of the YA authors I read (HarperTeen is notorious in my mind for simplistic writing styles and gorgeous covers. And yet, I love reading their books). That being said, she is a bestselling author so I must be in the minority there. And after a while I settle into her blunt style and it only occasionally bothers me. And yet, even with that her characters are very well evoked. They all have a very particular sense of life and vibrancy to them that makes them very real, even when they're secondary or tertiary characters.

There's a lot of action in this book and a lot of consequences and it's pretty interesting. It's a very fast read, which sometimes is nice; especially with a 525pg book.

And I like that in this book (as opposed to [b:Divergent|8306857|Divergent (Divergent, #1)|Veronica Roth|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327873996s/8306857.jpg|13155899]) Tobias and Tris' relationship is really the core of the story and everything else that is happening sort of orbits around that. It doesn't soften an action packed book into a teenage romance, but it provides an emotional anchor in the midst of the chaos and anarchy that's as important to the reader as it is to the characters. I like how authentic Tobias is; his physicality and nonverbal actions evoke him and define him extraordinarily well. Better, I think, than a lot of female writers trying to portray a male character. There's something very natural and very male about him as opposed to what a woman thinks a man would be or wants him to be. Roth isn't the only author to effectively do this ([a:Eve Edwards|3392912|Eve Edwards|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1309255339p2/3392912.jpg] springs to mind) but I was struck by how well she did it.

I liked that there were different moments within their relationship that gave it a depth and a complexity that you don't find in most YA novels. There weren't a ton, but there were enough to take note of.

But there was a lot I didn't like about Tris in this book. She lies. At first she's just keeping secrets and the lies pour out of that which I understand. A lot of characters keep secrets out of loyalty or guilt or because they can't even speak the works to themselves so certainly they can't tell anyone else. But then, after her big, brave I-forced-myself-to-tell-you-the-truth moment she is a lying liar who lies.

And I get it, he's an ass who stops listening every time she disagrees with him.

What I wanted at the end was for him to say, "You've got to stop lying to me." And she replies, "You've got to start listening to me. Because I'm right. And you know me, there's no stopping me from whatever I'm hell bent on doing."

But what kind of a relationship do they really have when he dismisses her whenever she disagrees with him and she lies to him every other time they talk?

And then, then, at the end she calls him a liar! what?! You lied to him again and again and thought to yourself, "I'm lying straight to his face." You don't then get to give an impassioned speech about him trusting you. You've lost your right to be indignant.

That being said, a part of my criticism only goes to show how well developed her characters are because otherwise they wouldn't hold up to such scrutiny.

"You die, I die too." Tobias looks over his shoulder at me. "I asked you not to do this. You made your decision. These are the repercussions."

[kimbacaffeinate]

Insurgent by Veronica Roth was perhaps one of the most anticipated novels for 2012. I absolutely loved Divergent book one in the Divergent series as you can see my review here. I pre-ordered this novel and worried whether or not book two would give me the same rush I experienced in the first one. I am delighted to say that not only did Roth deliver she raised the bar. Insurgent captured me from the first sentence and held me in its grip till the last page. *sighs* Now I have to endure another bout of anticipation while waiting for book three.

Roth literally dumps us right where book one left off and it took me a few minutes to get my bearings. Our protagonist Tris along with the swoon-worthy Four (now called Tobias), Marcus and Caleb and a few stragglers from other factions make their way to Amity. We know the Erudite attacked Abnegation and wiped out most of them, that they manipulated Dauntless into helping by placing them in a simulation. In Divergent Tris and Tobias stopped the simulation. Tris and Tobias are wanted so they escape the sanctuary of Amity and head towards the city to hide out. They meet up with the factionless. This encounter sends Tris and Tobias to each faction looking for support against Jeanine and Erudite. The tale that unfolds is action-packed, breathe taking and one heck of an awesome ride. There is so much more to the attack then anyone can fathom and I cannot wait for all to be revealed in the final installment. This novel ends in a series of twists and a cliff-hanger that will have you drooling for book three.*wipes chin*

The characters Roth has created make this character driven trilogy come alive. Their individual personalities and faction traits gave them depth. I have grown quite attached to them. In this novel Tris struggles with grief and choices. She is not always an easy character to like and at times is harsh. Thanks to Tobias she begins to questions her own behavior and attempts to change. Tris is such a complex character and I am hoping she gets her ducks in a row. Despite the fact that she makes me completely crazy at times I adore her. Tobias is a born leader, although at times he seems to want to reject this role. He is slowly trying to figure out what he stands for. Is he fighting to save the factions or does he want a factionless society? He loves Tris and knows whatever he decides it will be with her. Roth peels back his layers and we learn so much more about him. He isn’t completely fleshed out and I looking forward to learning more about him. A few heroes emerged and I will leave you to discover them. The old factionless woman and individuals from each faction come forward and play integral roles in this novel. I adored some and hated others. Roth of course threw in twists and just when I wanted to ring the neck of a character she has them do something amazing and I am all like…yes!!

The world-building in this book was fantastic, captivating and completely brilliant! Insurgent is darker and faster paced then it's predecessor. Roth brings us more imagery of the world; she adds layers and depth revealing more of each faction’s society. She creates a twist that leads us to believe all is not what it seems. Absent is the popular love triangle and I applaud Roth for omitting one. The romance between Tris and Tobias is sweet, complicated and felt refreshingly real. While she answered some of my questions from book one, she gleefully handed me a whole new pile and I accepted them willingly. *bows to Roth* Roth is an incredibility talented author who has an amazing gift. This novel not only cleared up questions, it advanced the story and perfectly set us up for book three. It was interesting watching how each faction dealt with the fall-out and seeing individuals break free from them. I cannot wait to see how things work out.

[Jo]

Originally posted on YA book blog, Once Upon a Bookcase.

Oh. My. God. There are absolutely no words to describe how I'm feeling right now, now that I have finished Insurgent. To say I loved it is to call a thunderstorm a drizzle. "Amazing" doesn't even come close to covering it! Insurgent blew me away - more than I was expecting after reading Divergent. How could Veronica Roth possibly beat Divergent when it was so incredible? I don't know how, but she bloody well did!

I said in my review of Divergent that it was complex and clever. I also said that you had no idea where things were going to go. Insurgent has both these elements, but takes them to a whole new level. Whereas Divergent focussed on Tris more than the dystopian society, after Erudite put the Dauntless under the attack simulation and all but destroyed the Abnegation faction, Insurgent focuses on both Tris and the society they now all live in. A society filled with chaos, danger, and the threat of war. And in a world where factions are kept separate, you have no idea what any will do, or what the consequences will be. You are constantly sitting on the edge of your seat while reading this book. It just doesn’t stop!

And by that I mean the characters never stop. Society as they know it is crumbling, and for those who were Dauntless, sitting back and waiting to see what happens isn’t an option. Erudite took control of Dauntless to destroy Abnegation. But what of Amity and Candor? Who’s side will they be on? And why did Erudite take control, anyway? Why target Abnegation? What do they want? And what will they do next? Insurgent picks up right where Divergent left off; with Tris, Four, and company on the train, and they have work to do – fight and protect. We find out so much more about all the other factions in this book, and it’s just fascinating. The internal politics of each individual faction, how they work together, how decisions are made, what they base those decisions on, and how others are treated, it’s just brilliantly worked out.

Tris suffers so much throughout this novel. With having to kill Will, and her mother and father sacrificing themselves for her at the end of Divergent, Tris is wracked with grief and guilt, to the point where she actually struggles to function normally. She becomes terrified of using a gun, throws herself into unnecessary reckless situations, and simply can’t get past what has happened. This puts a lot of pressure on her relationship with Four, who loves her beyond words, yet can’t seem to shake her out of her self-destruct mode. Add to that the fact that he's suffering from his own demons and seems to be hiding things from her too, and you’ve got yourself a hurting couple who need each other more than they can possibly say, yet can’t help spitting fire and venom at one another. It is so unbelievably sad knowing how much they feel for each other and just how much they desperately need each other’s help, and to then see them feel unable to simply reach out for the other’s hand. It’s incredibly sad. Saying that, when no harsh words are spoken, the fire that burns between them rivals that of any other YA couple going. The chemistry between the two of them is so intense, it crackles right off the page. This is what makes them one of the most believable YA couples going; they have the love, the passion, the devotion, but they have their issues too. No relationship is perfect 100% of the time, and the fact that these two have their problems makes it all the more real. Their relationship is so beautiful, it shines.

As in the previous book, Roth doesn’t shy away from hitting our favourite characters with major blows, but as there is a lot more life-threatening action in this book than in Divergent, those blows, in whatever form, aren’t reserved for just the end. I was close to tears on more than one occasion over the dirty tactics of the cold Erudite Jeanine. Knowing this from the previous book, it is foolish to get too attached to some characters you get to know better, yet impossible not to do. In more ways than one, this book is an incredibly hard and brutal read, but much like a car crash, you can’t turn away.

Then there is the ending! Oh my god, the ending! Such a cliff-hanger! And I have absolutely no idea where the story is going to go from there! What a curve ball! We thought everyone was all shaken up already, but it seems Roth didn’t think things were shaken up enough. Simply brilliant, and exciting, and wonderful! I have absolutely no clue what will happen next, but I can tell you one thing; it’s going to be one hell of a ride!

Insurgent; it’s impossible to read with your mouth closed. Prepare to be awed.